Reaction: Quiz cheers 'good' FY performance but sees cost of living eat into recent sales

Glasgow-headquartered fashion chain Quiz has revealed that sales have fallen over the past two months as shoppers battle the rising cost of living.

The group has in a trading update unveiled a jump in revenues for the past year but said the like-for-like figure for February and March was lower due to "challenging trading conditions". Quiz also cautioned that "significant pressures on consumer spending seen in recent months" are set to continue in the new financial year and could weigh on demand in the short term.

Nevertheless, the retailer said it "remains highly confident" over the strength of the brand, and it held firm on profit expectations. It came as Quiz reported that total group revenues increased by 17 per cent to £91.7 million for the year to March 31, despite declining at the end of the period. The annual growth was driven by a 23 per cent rise in revenues to £45.5m across its UK stores and concessions.

The group in January said it believed it would perform “at least” in line with its expectations for the year after returning to profitability in the half year.

Quiz says: 'The group delivered a good performance in full year 2023... reflecting the strength of [our] trademark dressy and occasion wear product offering.' Picture: contributed.

Quiz boss Tarak Ramzan has now said: "The group delivered a good performance in full year 2023, achieving revenue growth across each of its channels, reflecting the strength of Quiz's trademark dressy and occasion wear product offering.

"This outcome, which was achieved despite the challenging market backdrop in recent months, is a strong testament to our flexible model and differentiated brand. Whilst the external trading environment is expected to remain challenging in the near term, we remain highly confident in the group's long-term prospects."

Analyst Tony Shiret of Panmure Gordon said his team is reducing its full-year estimates to £2.8m pre-tax profit from £3.9m “as we believe that would still represent decent progress given the uncertainties of the current year and the difficult conditions currently being faced”.

He added: “Quiz is a very operationally geared company, and as with other clothing retailers its trade is weather-related, so it is possible that our original forecast could be achieved. Longer term, the task and opportunity investment-wise is for the company to demonstrate it can achieve mid-high single digit margins. We are reducing our target price from 20p to the current level of 15.5p and retaining our ‘hold’ recommendation."